STATE OF ORIGIN

JUNE 1 - JULY 13, 2016

Since its inception in 1980, State of Origin has become one of the biggest events in Australian Sport.
The rivalry between New South Wales
and Queensland in rugby league was always there, but it was never given a face until that fateful winter’s night.
No one could have anticipated how big State of Origin would get when the NSW Blues and QLD Maroons
took the field for the first time at Lang Park (now
Suncorp Stadium).

But after a little stoush between club teammates Arthur Beetson
and Mick Cronin, even the critics couldn’t deny that something
special had been unearthed. Since then, the game has grown in leaps and bounds, going from a one match series to a three game extravaganza; to playing at
Lang Park in front of 19,000, to selling out one of Australia’s
biggest venues, ANZ Stadium, with 84,000 screaming fans.

State of Origin pits the best players in the NRL from QLD and NSW against each other in a
three-game series for the coveted State of Origin Shield. It’s been dubbed ‘the toughest game in rugby league’. The
atmosphere is second to none and many players believe it’s more of an honour to represent their state than their country. Most of the time, the
series’ honours were extraordinarily even, with the shield heading back and forth over the border on a regular basis.

But the emergence of four future Immortals (Johnathan Thurston,Cameron Smith,
Billy Slater and Greg Inglis) put a stop to that and the Maroons won a record eight
series in a row between 2006 – 2013. In 2014, the streak finally ended with the Shield heading south after a 2-1 series victory by NSW.

Promotions, Odds and Previews

STATE OF ORIGIN HEAD2HEAD HANDOUT
JULY 13

Place a Head to Head bet on State of Origin Game 3 and if your State leads by 6 or more at any time but loses, Money Back up to $50!

Some of the biggest names in rugby league have taken part in this iconic event, including the late great Artie Beetson, Mal Meninga, Andrew Johns and of course, ‘The King’ Wally Lewis. All of these men have produced ‘man of the series’ performances, and in 2004, the Wally Lewis Medal was first awarded to the player of the series. It was won by NSW backrower Craig Fitzgibbon.